The present invention relates to a machine for use in fusing a branch connector or T-junction fitting to a main pipe. It is particularly intended for joining such fittings to polyethylene gas pipes.
When a saddle-type or T-junction fitting is to be joined to the outside surface of a main's gas pipe, the two surfaces to be joined are first heated until they melt, and then forced together so that they form a joint as they cool. This procedure is normally carried out using a machine for holding the pipe and fitting in the correct orientation while their opposing faces are heated, and for subsequently urging the fitting against the opposing pipe surface with sufficient pressure to form the joint. A hydraulic mechanism is used for first urging the fitting against a heating tool to heat its face to be joined to the pipe, and then urging the heated face of the fitting against the pipe. However the pipe and fitting faces become very sticky when they melt, and the hydraulic mechanism sometimes joins when the fitting is being withdrawn from the heating tool.
Furthermore, this type of fitting operation is most often practiced on job sites, sometimes in a trench where under tight space limitations and extremely dusty or muddy conditions which preclude the use of bulky or complex mechanical devices, such as hydraulic machines mentioned above.